DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Technology used in crime investigations under the new criminal laws is "foolproof", provided protocols are strictly followed, Chandigarh DGP SS Yadav said on Sunday.

Under the new laws, it is mandatory to record every step of the investigation, from receiving a distress call on the 112 emergency response helpline to the collection of evidence, which is video recorded, photographed and digitally uploaded on the special application E-Sakshya -- a cloud-based service operated by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

The laws also require the use of various applications for fingerprint detection, facial recognition, prosecution, trial and court procedures, making the entire process -- from emergency response to investigation, chargesheet and trial -- seamless.

Yadav said the new laws and processes ensured the investigations were swift, time-bound, legally tenable, self-evident and self-presentable, unlike the previous system, which had a lot of subjectivity.

Asked if the dependence on technology made investigations vulnerable to hacking or misuse, Yadav said, "The technology is always foolproof if the protocol is followed and remains intact. In the E-Sakshya application, from origin to end, there is the same hash value, ensuring continuity of the process and a foolproof system."

"Our officers can only use tablets issued by the administration to collect evidence and follow procedures, so the chances of abuse are minimal," he added.

A hash value is a unique numerical identifier representing the contents of a file or data on a digital device.

Every step -- from the distress call, dispatch of a PCR van, and the arrival of a forensic team at the scene -- is now recorded on dedicated devices with timestamps, which must be provided to the

court, he said.

Yadav noted that evidence collection could not be tampered with, as the process -- including the recording of witness statements -- was directly uploaded to the cloud with timestamps through the E-Sakshya application.

A certificate is generated, which is provided to the court within 48 hours, he said.

A massive infrastructure upgrade was carried out to ensure the full implementation of these processes. Chandigarh set up 80 videoconferencing facilities with various agencies -- hospitals, forensics and administrative offices -- besides training of all stakeholders on the new platforms, he said.

Five subdivisional magistrate offices were designated for private citizens to appear via videoconferencing to record their testimony,

officials said.

The court information system was upgraded to version 4.0 to synchronise with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), and Internet bandwidth increased to 150 Mbps to handle all data uploads and downloads smoothly, they added.

(editor@dailyworld.in)